UN chief suggests joint Syria chem mission with Cyprus support base

A joint mission of the UN and the OPCW should include some 100 experts deployed both in Damascus and on Cyprus – to provide additional “operational capabilities” – in order to destroy Syria’s chemical arsenal, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proposed.

"I propose the establishment of an OPCW - UN Joint Mission to
eliminate the chemical weapons program of the Syrian Arab
Republic," Ban Ki-moon wrote in a letter to the UN Security
Council.

The mission "will seek to conduct an operation the likes of
which, quite simply, have never been tried before," Ban said,
in a report to the United Nations Security Council, according to
AFP.

A joint mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN on Syria will be based in
Cyprus and will include about 100 people.

“The Joint Mission will build upon advance team deployment and
expand to staff of approximately 100 personal from both OPCW and
the United Nations,” RIA Novosti quotes.

The work, the secretary general believes should be split between
“particular competencies” of the mission taking into
account the “complimentary roles.” The UN, Ban writes
would also provide administrative support to ensure
“coordination and liaison with the Syrian government and
opposition groups,” the letter reads.

The mission, the Secretary General suggests would be headed by a
“civilian Special Coordinator” that would be appointed by
Ban Ki-moon.

The UN chief has proposed to split the mission in three phases,
according to the document.

The first phase suggests developing an "initial presence in
Damascus" and consultations with the Syrian government to
revise and clarify the documents on chemical weapons provided to
the OPCW. The second stage includes audits and inspections of
production and storage facilities and their destruction which are
to be completed by November 1.

"To achieve that end the joint mission will further
develop its operational capabilities, including through the
opening and development of the support base in Cyprus. It will
enhance its medical response capabilities, its security posture,
including through the deployment of armored vehicles, and develop
its specialized training program."

The third eight-month-long stage will be for the complete
destruction of Syrian chemical weapons by July 30, 2014.

The UN chief also thanked the Government of Cyprus for the
opportunity for the mission to be partially based on the island.

The UN Secretary-General’s letter is expected to be discussed at
the Security Council’s meeting on October 10.

Meanwhile weapons inspectors in Syria have begun destroying the
country’s stockpile of chemical weapons noting that the
"Syrian authorities were cooperative" in the process.

The UN confirmed that so far missile warheads, aerial bombs, and
chemical mixing equipment had been surrendered to the OPCW, which
started working in Syria on October 1.

Last week OPCW official stated that all “expedient
methods” would be used to ensure Syria’s production
facilities would be rendered unusable as the mission looks to
finish its their work by mid-2014.

Experts from the OPCW seek to oversee the destruction of Syria's
chemical weapons production and mixing equipment by November 1,
and deal with all chemical weapons materials by the end of June
2014.

The US has welcomed the progress in Syria saying that the Assad
government deserves credit for complying with the chemical
weapons deal, John Kerry said after the first high-level meeting
with his Russian counterpart since Moscow and Washington agreed
on the deal.

Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met on the
sidelines of the APEC summit in Bali, Indonesia, on Monday
morning.

"The process has begun in record time and we are appreciative
for the Russian co-operation and obviously for the Syrian
compliance," US Secretary of State John Kerry said at the
APEC summit after a meeting with Lavrov.

The Secretary of State also said that the US has agreed with
Russia to move towards Syria peace talks as soon as possible.

Syrian opposition sets conditions for Geneva-2 talks

On Monday, the Western-backed Syrian opposition group, the Syrian
National Coalition, produced a list of conditions that need to be
“guaranteed” for it to participate in the Geneva-2 peace
conference.

“We do not reject participation in Geneva-2 but we request
guarantees for its success. And if we receive these guarantees we
will show them to the military leaders,” the head of the
group, Ahmed Jarba told reporters including al Arabiya.

Referring to Iran as an “enemy” and “occupier” of
Syria, the SNC said that Tehran should not act as a
“mediator” at the conference. Jarba also demanded
“Hezbollah leave Syria.”

The coalition’s leader also said that there will be “no
dialogue with the criminal Assad regime.”“Nationalist
dialogue is only with nationalists,” Jarba said.

The demands are not at all surprising for political analyst
Ibrahim Alloush, who tells RT that the main goal of the
opposition is not to negotiate but rather to provoke a Western
military engagement with Assad forces.

“All the main groups within the Syrian opposition, be it the
Syrian Free Army or SNC have said that they would have preferred
a military strike against Syria instead of having Syria
peacefully remove its caches of chemical weapons,” Alloush
says.

“They [Syrian opposition groups] are not only refusing to
cooperate with the UN mission they have openly said that they are
not interested in attending the Geneva II conference for
resolving this problem politically,” Alloush concludes.